Validity evidence for an instrument for cognitive load for virtual didactic sessions

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Cognitive Psychology
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• COVID-19 shifted medical education to virtual platforms, potentially increasing cognitive load for residents.
• Optimizing learning requires reducing cognitive load, but validated tools for virtual settings are scarce.
• This study addresses the need for a reliable instrument to measure cognitive load in virtual emergency medicine didactics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and validate an instrument for assessing cognitive load in virtual emergency medicine (EM) didactic sessions.
• To provide validity evidence based on Messick's framework, encompassing content, response process, internal structure, and relationships with other variables.
• To establish a tool for educators to evaluate and improve the cognitive load of online learning experiences.

Main Methods:

• A literature review and expert consensus were used to select an appropriate instrument, focusing on content and response process validity.
• The selected 10-item Leppink Cognitive Load instrument was administered to EM residents after a virtual lecture.
• Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency, and correlation analyses to assess relationships with lecture quality.

Main Results:

• The 10-item Leppink Cognitive Load instrument demonstrated good internal structure (Cronbach's alpha = 0.80).
• Subscales showed excellent or good reliability: intrinsic load (α=0.96), extrinsic load (α=0.89), and germane load (α=0.97).
• Five items correlated significantly with overall lecture quality (p < 0.05), indicating construct validity.

Conclusions:

• The 10-item Cognitive Load instrument is a valid tool for measuring cognitive load and its subdomains in virtual EM didactics.
• This validated instrument can provide valuable feedback to presenters, enabling them to enhance the cognitive load management of their virtual sessions.
• The findings support the use of this instrument to improve the effectiveness of online medical education.